Retort



May i3, 1930. .1. N. VANDEGRIFT RETORT Filed June 8, 1923 Z-Sheets-Sheet l IHIH May 13, 1930. J. N. VANDEGRIFT RETORT Filed June 8. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 cfwzasI/cmdegrg mvENToR ABY @M ATTORNEY u i Patented May V13, 1930 UNITED STATES .eA-TENT vOFFICE .Tf-AMES N. VANDEGRIFT, F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB T0 CHARLES M. BARNETT,

. OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BETORT Application led June .8,

` The present invention comprises a retort hydrocarbon vapors therefrom and produce a maximum quantity of high gravity distillates in a minimum oftime and at a minimum fuel and operating cost. l

The time required 'to completely vaporize a given mass of carbonaceous material, at a given temperature, varies directly as the s quare fthethickness of the mass of material. For quantity produc-tion it is important that the mass of material to be treated'be spread comparatively thin and uniformly over a heated surfaceof large area and this is accomplished in the present apparatus.

The application of heat to the metal sur- .face in contact with the carbonaceous'matcrial -in the present retort is. uniform. Independent of any thermostatic control-of the retort temperature there is interposed between the surface with which the material is in contact and the heat flame, a heat stabilizing or equalizing material, preferably molten metal, although in some instances'metal filings, sand or other materialmay be used.

In the present retort I arrangjeto preheat the material which is' under treatment while it is being introduced into the retort, but this preheating is yintended to heat the material to some point below the vaporizmg point 1 n order that volatiles will not beevolved until the material has entered lthe retort, and has been spread in an even layer'l In the present apparatus, after the material has been preheated it is delivered upon a movable, heatedv in a uniform layer of shallow7 depth.

supportwhere it is continuously spread out into an even butcompa'ratively thin layer, and after the material has traveled upon the support long enough for the vapors to be evolved it is continuously removed therefrom. Therefore, the preheating, spreading, heating, and discharge all` go on continuous-I ly but instead onfvhaving a body of irregular depth or of varyingdepth I am able, in the present apparatus, t'o maintain the material i Another object is to prevent precipitation 1s2s. serial No. maza.l

` of heavy condensates back upon thelmaterial under treatment.. 1 If;

Other objects and advantages will be set forth in the following detailed description of one embodiment of my invention,

In the drawings forming part of this applicatiom@ Figure retort embodying one form of my invention, Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line A-B of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a sectional'detail view of the agitating or turnover device,

-Figure 4 is a detail view showing the valve for controlling the bypassing of heat to the chamber 7 In'the drawings I 'havenshown a retort of bee-hive form, comprising the following essential parts. There is a base or foundation 37 on which the fire brick walls 38 of the retort rest. The wall 38 is dome or bee-hive shape, the upper portion 27 being arched and forming the vaporizing chamber 26 in which .thevapors are first evolved,'and the lower portion forming an enclosure 2O for the source of heat. I-prefer to utilize a portion .of the product ofthe retort as a fuel supply although it will be understood that any other kind of fuel such asV natural gas, petroleum `extracted from wells, or even coal may be used as fuel. In the drawings I have shown a burner 39 which may be supplied with a 1 is a vertical sectional view of a product ofthe retort for fuel withoutintending to exclude the use of other kinds of fuel from the scope of myv invention. There is a fuel supply pipe 40 entering through an aperture in the wall 38 and this supplies fuel-to the burner 39 which is disposed in the re box 2O above the ioor 22 and just below the movable support for the carbonaceous material which'is under treatment. Flames issuing from apertures in this burner 39 at many points around' the retort act directly upon the bottom or fire plate 12 of the movable support.

, f The movable support or spreading table is preferably revolvable and it is so shown herein and it is also preferably flatin order that the material may be maintained in an even layer. The bottom or fire plate 12 of this movable support is here shown as having a central, depending flange 41 which surrounds and is secured to a central, revolvfcolumn 42. There is a sleeve 14a fitting around the flange 41, and it has radially extending ribs 43 which serve to stiifen and support the tire plate 12 and other parts upon the central collumn 42. The central column 42 rests on roller bearings 15 which travel on a circular bearing member or track 16 and on its lower end I have shown the column provided with a' gear 44. There is a shaft 45 project-ing from the exterior of the retort through the walls, and on its inner end it has a pinion 17 which meshes with and operates the gear 44 to revolve the column and t-he entire movable support or spreading table. This shaft 45 is operated by any power means, and I have shown a pulley 18 which maybe driven by a belt from any source.

The central column projects throughlan aperture 46 in the floor 22 wherein it may revolve freely. Above the fire plate 12 and spaced from the latter I arrange the table or plate 10 on which the material under treatment directly rests. This plate is shown provided with a flange 47 on its outer portion, which engages over and rests upon an upturned flange 48 on'the lire plate 12. In the chamber' between the plates 12 and 10, which extends over the whole support, I introduce the heat stabilizing or equalizing material. As stated above, Various substances maybe used for this purpose but lead, which will be maintained in a molten condition bythe heat of the burners, isvvery suitable. I prefer, therefore, to introduce sufficientlead 49 in the chamber to almost lill it and when the burners are in action the molten metal will not only act as a reservoir in storing up heat to be given off uniformly to the product but as it is maintained in a molten condition it will, aidedby the rotation of the table, equalize the temperature at all parts of the table.

' The table 10 is also secured to the central column 42 so that it revolves with it, and I have shown a metal'cap 50 on the top of the column which is covered or enclosed by a cap 14b of refractory material for a purpose to be referred to hereinafter. The space 26 above the t-able is for the material under treatment and it is also the vaporizing chamber. The wall 38 forming this chamber is preferably constructed of fire brick, but if it is composed of metal it should be lined with refractory material because it is very desirable that the evolved vapors should not come into contact with any metal while in the vaporizing chamber, as otherwise the vapors tend to condense and to carbonize upon the metal. For this reason I employ the cap 14b of refractory material on the top of the column. The flue 28 for the passage of the evolved' vapors is also made of refractory material such as re brick, as shown, for similar reasons. I have provided a safety valve 29a in this flue to relieve any dangerous pressure created in the retort.

Thisflue delivers the vapors into a treating chamber 29. This latter is shown as of double walled construction, the inner wall 51 being spaced from the outer wall 33 to provide -an air space 35 at the upper portionin order that the vapors may be reduced in temperature just enough to precipitate ertrain constituents of the' product, such as paraiin wax where hydrocarbons are being distilled from shale. The spa'ce between the' bottom walls A34 and 30 lof this chamber is supplied with a stabilizing material like the table, and for this purpose I prefer to use molten metal such as lead 53.

lVithin the chamber 29 thereare arranged downwardlyinclined, baille plates 32, alternately projecting from opposite side walls of the chamber to provide a tor uous course for the .vapors within this chamb'er and to assist in precipitating certain -cnnstituents such as paraiiin wax.

The shale or other material to be treated is introduced into Athe hopper 1 which is provided with a valve or tap 54 to prevent the loss of vapors. From the hopper 1 the material enters the pipe 2 and it then passes into a horizontal pipe 4, where it is fed along to the open end 55 by a screw feed 8. This screw 1s mounted on a shaft 9 which'is driven from the shaft- 45 by means of a chain 19 engaging sprockets on these shafts.

The products of combustion pass olf through the opening 21, in the wall 38,'thcnce through the annular space 56 surrounding the pipe 4, and thence through the flue 3, the

latter enclosing the inlet pipe 2 and forming an annular chamber 57 around it. As these products of combusti-on travel through the spaces 5G, 57and the flue 3they heat thematerial which is being introduced into the retort for treatment but this does not raise the material to a vaporizing temperature.

Part of the products of combustion are bypassed from the space 5G through a port 7 which is controlled by a thermostatic valve 58, and these by-passed products of combustion enter the chamber 59 and serve to heat the lower walls of the chamber 29. From the chamber 59, these products pass through a port 5 and pass out the stack 3 with the others.

The thermostatic valve is shown in Figure 4. It consists of a rod 70 pivoted at the top to the plate 34 and the lower end of this rod is connected at 71 with ots from the point 73. At 74 the lever 72 is pivoted to the valve 58 which controls the passage of heat from thespace 56 to the chamber 59. When the temperature in the space 59 is raised to the desired degree, the rod 70 iseXpanded by the heat and the lever 72 is held in the lower position to close the ya lever 72 whichpiv- I discharging products of combustion. The `-spreading table is maintained at atemper# valve 5,8. lhen the chamber 59 cools; the rod' IThe carbonaceous material delivered from the pipe 4 falls upon the top surface of the spreading table, IO-Which'in Figure 2 is Arevolving clockwise, and just behind a spreader 23a. This spreader consists of a vertically disposed plate, or blade, arranged at an angle to the radius of the table 10, and its bottom edge is spaced from the table according to the depth the material is to be spread upon the table. This blade `is vstationary, being anchored in the Wall of the retort.

At the opposite side of the pipe 4 there is a blade 23, preferably'diverging 1n the op osite direction from the radius oftheta le to that of the blade 23a. This blade 23 serves to remove the treated material from the table and therefore its bottom edge 6l is close to or even resting on the top-surface of the table. At one sideof but not quite as long as the blade 23, there is a back up blade 23b the bottom edge of which is preferably spaced from 1 the table surface to correspond approxi- A mately with the blade 23a.

At some point in the path of travel of the material I prefer lto provide means for dislodging the particles of material in order to loosen them and to cause all portions to be.

subjected to heat. `For this purpose I have shown a stationary support 25 havlng arms 63 and 25a, which carry'a pivoted shoe 24.

The member y25 is supported at one end from an arm 14 which is connected with the up per Wall 27. The latter rests orfloats upon the top-surface of the table 10 and-.I have shown it provided with a thin'or sharp lead.-v ing edge 64, followed, by 'a rise 65 and a sud` den rear drop 66.` YAs the material travels around with the spreading table it strikes the front edgeV 64 of the shoe 24 and it rides upon and over the shoe as shown in Figure 3, and this serves to disturb the particles so that all ortions are subjected to heat. This shoe, ovvever, d'oes not materially. alter the uniform distribution or depth of the material on the spreading table.

- It may he assumed that the a'pfprar'atus is being used'to'distill hydro-carbon A although this is only one of the uses of the present retort.- The shale Will be supplied to the hopper 1, from whence it moves down the pipe 2 into the pipe 4 Where it is fed along by the screw 8 to be dischargedat the end of the pipe 4 upon the spreading table behind the blade 23a. The shale, as above described, is preheated during this travel by the ature considerably higher (at least 200 F.) above 'the vapori'zing temperature (about 760 F.) of the pyro-bitumen educed from the om shale shale, 'so that the vapors are not only evolved rapidly but they are cracked to much lighter lhydrocarbon compounds than if treated at the normal. vaporizing temperature of the pyro-bitumen.

As the material tries to pass the blade 27a upon the spreading table it is levelled olf by this blade to a given depth, determined b the spacing of this blade from the table. t remains in an even layer on the spreading table until itis to be discharged. Rapid vaporization is principally brought about by spreading the material into a relatively thin, uniform layer on the spreading vtable and subjecting it to a high, uniform heat.

The material is-completely treated in one revolution of the spreading table.A When it reaches the blade 23 which is close to, or in contactvvith the table, the spent material is forced over the edge of the table by this bladel 23 into a dischar e chute 67, which is also provided with a c eck to prevent the loss of vapors. The blade 23b prevents the material as it strikes the blade 23 from backing upon the table, so that it is forced olf the latten* y The arched domerof refractory material converges the evolved vapors to the large outlet 28. The surfaces of the latter as well as all parts Within the chamber 26 with Which the vapors come into contact are of lire brick or other refractory material to prevent condensation of any heavy hydro-carbon fractions, retaining these as vapors until they enter the first fractionating chamber 29. I have found that at a given temperature the heavy fractions condense more readily upon metallic surfaces then on refractory surfaces and it is important to preventprecipitation of heavy condensates in the rotort upon the material under treatment to avoid clogging and` caking and to effect the complete recovery of all con,- densates at the desiredplace of recovery.

The chamber 29 is for the condensation of heavy WaXor pitch fraction from the hydrocarbon va ors. With paraffin base materials at least this heavy condensate may be largely cracked into light gasoline vapors. per portion of the chamber 29 is aircooled to maintainthe temperature there at the condensation point of 'paraffin Wax vor around 740' F.- Thebottom is maintained ata temperature say 100o F. higher than the Vaporizing temperature. The heavy condensate forms a film on the upper Walls of the chamber and on the baliies 32 and this falling upon .the bottom 30 is immediately raised in tem- 'olf as liquid'through the draw olf pipe.

The upi izo Having described my invention, what l claim is:

l. A retort comprising a revolvable spreadingtable, means for spreading carbonaceous material in an even layer upon said table, and means for removing the treated material trom the table, comprising a blade adjacent to or touching the t-able to scrape the material therefrom and a blade arranged in advance of said lirst mentioned blade, said second blade bein spaced from the table to permit the layer o material to pass thereunder adjacent to said first blade in the path of travel of the material but acting to prevent the material backing up when acted upon by the removingV blade, and means for heating said table to evolve the vapors from the material thereon. S

2. A retort comprising a movable spreading table on which carbonaceous material is adapted to be spread, said table comprising spaced members -forming a chamber, heat equalizing materia-lin said chamber, means for heating said table, and means for spread-v 25 ing-an even layerA of carbonaceous material upon said table.

` 3. A retort comprising a movable spreading table on Which carbonaceons` material is adapted to be spread, said table comprising lspaced members forming a chamber, a layer of loW melting point metal in said chamber, means for heating said table and maintaining said metal in molten state, and means for spreading an evenlayer of carbonaceous material upon said table.

4. A retort comprising a revolving spread` ing table and means for heating it, means for spreading a layer of carbonaceous material upon said table for treatment, means for 4o removing the treated material from. the table, and means inter-posed in the path of the material on'sa-id table, over Which the material is causedto, pass for thevpurpose set forth.

F 5. A retort comprising a flat, horizontal, revolvable spreading table having a chamber therein, a body of metal of loW fusingy point in said chamber, means for spreading on said ltable an even layer of carbonaceous '50 material While the table is revolving, means for removing the treated material While the table is revolving, and means for heating said table.

Signed at the city, county, and State of New York, this 2nd day of June, nineteen hundred and twenty-three (1923).

JAMES N. VANDEGRIFT. 

